


Fathom The Engima

by Followingthestar, SilverWing15



Series: Hero 'Verse [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Friends to Enemies, Gen, I have a plan tho, I know what I'm doing, Superheroes, There probably will me more stuff coming for this one because there's Massive gaps in the storyline, its complicated, lol no I don't - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 03:24:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20464226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Followingthestar/pseuds/Followingthestar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWing15/pseuds/SilverWing15
Summary: She kneels down to adjust the laces of her left boot. She only has a split second of warning before she is tackled from the side. Automatically, she twists under the person, both of them fighting to detangle themselves and ending up hindering one another.Its one of the other supervillains, Carter realizes, radiating a harried aura of “OOPS”.





	1. The Beginning

**Fathom**

Things are, perhaps, not going  _ strictly  _ the way she thought they would. 

You could even say that the plan had gone out the window with that couch Ultraman had been using to smash Gloom’s bots. 

_ Note to self: Ultraman does not mess around with interior decor.  _

“Lurker is down,” Nitro whispers in her ear. “What do we do now?” 

With Gloom and Lurker down she is apparently their last hope. 

_ Well, we’re all going to jail. _

On her arm, the band hums like a hive of bees. She wraps a hand around it as though that will silence it. Ultraman is pacing the front lobby now, talking to somebody on his comm. 

“Can we get Gloom and Lurker out?” 

Nitro shakes his head. “There’s some new girl watching them. I tried to sneak past her but she noticed me somehow...I think she might be a telepath.” 

A telepath would explain a lot, honestly. Why Ultraman was so prepared for them, why every single step of their plan crumbled as they implemented it. Telepaths are so inconvenient when they’re helping the enemy. 

“We cut our losses and go then.” She decides. “We did some damage at least. We can bust out Gloom and Lurker easily enough.” 

Nitro looks like he might argue for a moment, but in the end, he nods. “How are we getting past the big guy?” 

Rebekah peeks around the corner. Ultraman is no longer in the lobby. 

_ Please let him have gone for coffee.  _

Behind her, someone clears their giant, dumb, heroic throat. “I should have known  _ you _ were to blame for this, Fathom,” Ultraman says. 

She wonders if he ever gets tired of being that campy and ridiculous. She’s pretty sure that his dumb little action figure has that same line. 

He’s even put his hands on his hips, standing with feet shoulder width apart, cape billowing, hair perfectly curled. 

He is  _ so _ insufferable. 

“You do know that this company is responsible for dumping  _ twenty percent  _ of the pollution in the river all on their own right?” 

“If you want to make a difference, Fathom, you should contact your local senator! Perhaps you can use your one phone call from the station.” 

_ So. Insufferable.  _

She doesn’t bother wasting time trying to argue with Ultraman anymore. It's not like anything gets through his thick skull. She summons a gust of wind through the lobby, creating a tornado of papers and dust to hide them from view. Nitro is quick on her heels as they sprint through the doors. 

“You’ll not get away with this Fathom!” Ultraman booms from behind her. 

Rebekah is going to have a very serious and very unfriendly discussion with whoever gave him the power of flight. 

***

**Enigma **

Things aren’t really going how she thought they would. 

To be honest, she’d really thought that working with Ultraman would be less like her internship. Carter knows that she’s new to the city, and sure, there’s a lot of trust to be built between her and the resident heroes but babysitting unconscious villains still seems a bit….sidekick? 

She is  _ not _ angling to be Ultraman’s sidekick, that’s for sure. Or anyone’s sidekick. She’s been a hero for seven years, she isn't going to be a glorified intern. She and Ultraman are going to have a serious discussion after this mess is cleaned up. 

Her comm buzzes. 

_ “Enigma? _ ” 

“Go, Ultraman.” She says, her heart beats faster, ready for excitement, ready for battle. 

  
  


“Can you pinpoint the other two? I’ve lost them.” 

She can almost physically feel her spirits sink. She  _ hates  _ being used as a glorified GPS. There are more important things going on right now though so she pushes the feeling aside. 

It isn’t  _ strictly _ necessary to put two fingers to her temple as she searches, but well...She thought it made her look cool when she was younger and now she can’t break the habit. She flicks her mental eye over the crowds of police and civilians outside of the building. Evacuated office workers. 

No one that sticks out. 

She turns her attention to the building itself. Ultraman is in the lobby, humming with  _ energy/eagerness _ . She doubts he even feels her fleeting mental touch. 

Not too far away though there is another disturbance. She tracks the feeling back to its source like ripples in a pond. Two minds close together, broadcasting  _ nervous/determined _ . She’s careful to disguise her touch so that she doesn’t tip them off too soon. 

“They’re around the corner from you.” She says. 

_ “Roger,”  _ Ultraman says and cuts off the comm. 

Carter nudges one of the already downed villains with the toe of her boot. They’re still unconscious, no distracting banter from them she supposes. 

She kneels down to adjust the laces of her left boot. She only has a split second of warning before she is tackled from the side. Automatically, she twists under the person, both of them fighting to detangle themselves and ending up hindering one another. 

Its one of the other supervillains, Carter realizes, radiating a harried aura of  _ “OOPS”.  _

They stare at each other with wide eyes for a second more before the second supervillain and Ultraman burst through the wall. “Halt, Villain!” Ultraman booms. 

“When has that  _ ever  _ worked?” The first villain demands, a gust of wind blows Carter out of grabbing range and the woman springs to her feet. 

Fathom, then. Which makes the other one Nitrus...or Nitro. 

This is why Carter hates moving. 

Ultraman blows past her, cape streaming, arms outstretched before him. Carter hesitates for a second, glancing to the downed villains. They’re still unconscious, they’ll be secure enough until the police arrive. She can already hear the sirens. 

She has no chance of catching up to Nitro--to be honest, Ultraman doesn’t have much of a chance either-- but Fathom is limited to regular human speeds. 

Fathom seems to sense that she’s being followed because she starts moving into narrow, twisting alleys, trying to be unpredictable. Carter smirks.  _ It's not going to be that easy.  _

She may not be familiar with this city, but Fathom is. Using Fathom’s memories, Carter detours down another alley and cuts across a side street. She can feel Fathom’s burst of victory, sure that she’s lost her pursuer. Carter’s smirk grows into a full smile as she vaults over the hood of a parked car, landing just in time for Fathom to make it halfway down the alley. 

They’re both breathing hard, but Carter shifts into a fighting stance. “I don’t suppose you want to come in quietly?”

“Not really, no.” Fathom admits. “You’re that new telepath, aren’t you.” 

“Enigma,” Carter offers because it's only polite. 

“Nice to meet you.” Fathom says, then she lunges. 

They’re well matched, all things considered. It takes Fathom a split second to call her powers to bear and combined with Carter’s own abilities, she’s able to avoid most of what Fathom throws her way. Fathom picks up on this quickly enough and decides to save her strength. 

Fathom has a rather acrobatic style, a lot of flips and rebounds that compliments Carter’s penchant for using her opponent’s momentum against them. 

“You’re good,” Fathom compliments breathlessly as Carter catches her wrist when she tries to vault over her shoulder. 

“I may be new in the city but I’m not new to the work,” Carter says, just as breathless. 

Fathom twists in her grip and breaks the hold, springing off of the alley wall to land behind Carter. “Where were you before?” 

Carter sweeps a low kick at her ankles. 

“Coast city spent a good five years there, but my protege pretty much took over and I’d been wanting to move up here for civilian reasons.” 

“Good for you,” Fathom says, leaping out of range, there’s no impression of sarcasm from her. “Have you tried any of the food around here?” 

“Not really, any suggestions?” Carter blocks a fist. 

“Little Jenny’s has the  _ best _ pizza.” Fathom says, summoning a blast of wind. “The delivery is kind of slow because they only have one guy, but it's worth the wait.” 

“I’ll check it out.” Carter isn’t usually one for jumps and flips, but her telekinesis does let her take the occasional opportunity. She takes Fathom by surprise with a leaping tackle that’s maybe not the most  _ graceful _ maneuver but she’s tired and she really wants pizza now and she’s done with this fight. 

“Ugh.” Fathom groans beneath her. “What was that?” 

“I was getting a cramp in my calf.” 

Fathom grunts understandingly. “Well, this has been fun, but I’ve not really got time for jail in my busy schedule. I’m sure you understand.” 

She delivers a quick, sharp punch to Carter's nose and slithers out of her grip.

Fathom reaches a hand into the air. Carter lunges for her, but Fathom suddenly starts  _ hovering _ . That’s when the plane ripples out of invisibility. Fathom gives her a sarcastic salute and climbs the ladder into the belly of the plane, leaving Carter alone in the alley without much idea how to get back home. 

“Next time,” she mutters, but there’s more respect in her tone than reproach. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Carter **

For a second there, things had actually been going pretty well. As well as they could go in an alien invasion at least. Most of the supervillains had teamed up with the heroes and so she and Fathom had actually gotten to work together as partners rather than fighting. 

The long months of fighting against each other had given them a solid familiarity with each other’s fighting styles and so they had been a fairly cohesive team. One of the first things the aliens had done was take out Ultraman and as the next most senior hero, Carter had taken the brunt of organization and planning for the defense of earth. 

  
  


There hadn’t really been time for any sort of fancy tactics, they’d been caught by surprise and the aliens had already been in the system by the time the warning satellites picked up on them. The battle had gone fairly well though. Carter and Fathom had ended up making it to the mothership where they’d found Ultraman. 

It was only after they’d unleashed him that the problems had started cropping up. Ultraman hadn’t stuck around to ask about plans, or a comm. He’d simply taken off and started knocking ships out of the sky. 

Which, to be fair, was the essence of the plan. 

However, Carter would have preferred that he wait until she and Fathom were  _ off of the ship _ before he took it down. The crash had been rough and Carter wasn’t entirely sure that she’d been conscious the entire time. From the sound of rushing water, she thinks that the ship crashed into the bay. 

Thankfully, there seems to be some sort of failsafe in place for this and she and Fathom are sealed in an abandoned room. So long as someone comes to find them before the air runs out they should survive. 

The real problem is that Fathom apparently has a few issues with small enclosed spaces. Or, more specifically, she has a problem with small enclosed spaces that are  _ underwater _ . 

“Can’t you control the water?” Carter asks. It's a bit of a faux pas in hero-villain relations to ask outright about powers. Especially if you were trying to be friendly. Asking about powers usually meant you were looking for a way to defeat the power. In this situation though, Carter thinks that manners can take a bit of a backseat. 

“I control  _ weather _ ,” Fathom stresses, “not the ocean. That’s an entirely different thing!” She’s pacing the cramped room frantically, hands patting the walls intermittently as though she’s looking for cracks. 

Every time the ship groans she flinches and braces herself. 

“Fathom,” Carter waves to catch her attention. “We’re going to be fine.” She leans back against the wall, patting the space beside her in invitation.

She leans her head back against the wall and lets her own fear flow through her. The others might not notice that they’re gone, they might not be able to find the ship in the harbor, the ship might succumb to the pressure of the water and drown them. She allows the fears to come, but she doesn’t let herself react to them. 

Nothing she could do or not do will change the outcome of this. As much as she hates it, she has to sit here and wait for someone else to rescue them. A tiny part of her is guiltily grateful that Fathom is so panicked. Carter can keep it together for her. Can help her keep calm. Give herself something to do, some measure of control over something in the situation. 

Fathom hesitates and for a second, Carter thinks that she is going to keep pacing, but she lowers herself to the floor beside Carter. She draws her knees up to her chest and lifts one hand to fiddle with the band on her upper arm. 

It buzzes angrily and Carter almost wants to ask about it. She’s seen Fathom protect the band in a fight more fiercely than she protects her own throat. Sure, no hero would go for the throat in a fight, too easy to kill that way, but to overcome that instinct means that the band is something important. 

“How can you be so calm?” Fathom demands. Her legs shift like she wants to start pacing again. Carter puts a hand on her shoulder and presses her down. 

“Pacing won’t do anything more than sitting here will. At least rest.” 

Fathom taps her fingers against the floor.  _ Tap tap tap taptaptaptaptaptaptap.  _

Carter takes her hand and laces their fingers together. “Stop thinking about it.” 

“How am I supposed to not think about the millions of gallons of water just waiting out there to kill us?” Fathom demands. 

“I’m thinking about my grocery list.” 

“...you’re what?” 

“Before this…” Carter waves a vague hand at the room around them, “I was getting ready to go shopping. I’m almost out of milk, and I need more creamer as well.” 

Fathom stares at her for a long moment, then, “how are you doing on fruit?” 

Carter wrinkles her nose. “I’m not really fond of fruit.” 

“Let me guess, you’re not big on veggies either,” Fathom scoffs. 

“Guilty. I’ve never found a way to cook them that I like.” Carter makes a face, “my mother used to steam everything.” 

“Have you ever tried putting some olive oil on them and roasting them in the oven? That’s the best way. Stir-fry is good too.” 

The tension is steadily easing out of Fathom’s muscles and she leans against Carter’s shoulder. 

“Fruits and vegetables are an important part of your diet. Even if you don’t know how to cook them. Humans are omnivores for a reason.” 

Carter hums, inviting her to continue. Fathom, it turns out, knows an awful lot about cooking and nutrition. She must talk for at least an hour, with only occasional prompts and questions from Carter. 

At some point, Carter starts stroking her hair and Fathom’s lecture steadily loses steam until she is leaning against Carter’s shoulder snoring softly. 

It should be impossible to find any measure of peace in this situation. Trapped in a sunken alien ship with someone who should be her enemy. Carter supposes that more impossible things have happened. 

Outside, the sound of rushing water has stopped. The ship must be fully flooded at this point. 

It won’t be long until someone finds them. Carter leans her cheek against the top of Fathom’s head and lets her own eyes slip closed. 


	3. Chapter 3

This is how she’s going to die. 

She’s always known this was coming. Everything came with a price, and this was what she agreed to pay when the power came to her. One did not make deals with vengeful nature spirits and expect mercy. 

She thinks that knowing that should bring her some measure of peace, some scrap of comfort. 

It really doesn’t. 

Around her the wind screams and howls, the rain falls so quickly it feels like daggers against her skin. The ground rumbles beneath her. A spiteful part of her hopes that Ultraman is satisfied with his work. The rest of her is preoccupied with being consumed by fear. 

Her hands shake with it, her heart stutters in her chest with every flash of lightning. She can’t control this, not without the bracelet, not alone. 

She doesn’t want to die. 

Out of nowhere, something slams into her from the side. Rebekah shrieks before she realizes that she isn’t being crushed by a piece of debris. Instead, she’s being embraced by Enigma. Her eyes are narrowed in a familiar expression of determination and then her hand is on Rebekah’s temple. 

Even when they’d been close, Enigma had never pressed their minds this close together. On the occasions they’d worked together, she’d only ever brushed against Rebekah’s mind. Only enough to relay a plan or make a snarky comment where Ultraman couldn’t hear. 

Now Enigma’s mind is wrapped around hers the same way her body is.  _ Fathom! _ Enigma’s voice is different in the mind scape than it is in real life. Less professional, there are hints of an accent that never peek through in the physical world.  _ Fathom listen to me! I need you to let me help you.  _

_ You need to go, Enigma!  _ Rebekah tries to shove her away but Enigma is clinging to her like she’s the last real thing in the world.  _ I don’t want this to kill you too! _

_ I’m not leaving you! _ Enigma retorts.  _ What’s causing this? What can we do to stop it? _

That’s when Rebekah realizes that Enigma, calculating, analytical Enigma, who doesn’t get out of bed without at least two backup plans in case something goes wrong has leapt in without any idea of what she’s going to do.  _ I don’t know. I know its connected to my emotions. I had Gloom and Lurker make the arm band to help me control it but I don’t know what they did and now its broken.  _ The panic rises up again and the wind screams louder. 

_ This isn’t going to kill you Fathom. _ Enigma says. 

_ You can’t know that! _

_ I can and I do. I would never let something as petty as the forces of nature take you from me. _

Rebekah laughs, its slightly hysterical, but it’s more relieved. She can feel Enigma’s determination like a wall around her, sheltering her from the storm of her fear. 

_ I mean it. _ Enigma says. 

_ I know you do. _

Enigma holds her a fraction tighter, if that’s possible. Rebekah opens her eyes and finds their faces inches away from one another. 

She’s...missed this. More than she ever thought she could. She has worked for weeks and months and years to undo the damage others have done to the environment, to the animals, and where has it gotten her? Sure, she’s saved a few wetlands, maybe scared a few businessmen into donating to charities. 

The times she’s made the biggest difference though, were when she was right here. At Enigma’s side, working with her voice in her ear, in her mind, telling her what to do, where to go, the choices to make. Together they fought of an alien invasion, with her help, there was enough awareness to convince the public to vote against a building plan that would have wiped out a butterfly sanctuary. 

In all the months since The Incident--as she’s taken to calling it in her own mind--how much has she gotten done? 

Not much, all told. Not enough. Not as much as she had when Enigma was with her, directing her energy. If she could go back and undo The Incident, she would, in a heartbeat. 

Not only for the sake of her mission, but to have a chance at returning to that sheltered spot just behind Enigma’s right elbow. The place where no other hero, not even Ultraman himself, would dare question her presence. Where she could simply belong and rest in the peace that came from knowing that Enigma was on guard, that Endigma would worry about the future and she could exist in the present. 

Rebekah watches as Enigma’s eyes flutter and open to meet her own. She realizes that this deep, Enigma probably heard all of that. 

_ I did. _

_ I mean it.  _ Rebekah says.  _ I won’t lie to you and say that I didn’t mean to hurt the senator, but I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean to hurt our friendship.  _

_ Fathom-- _

_ Rebekah. _ She smiles, a hint of teasing.  _ We both know you’ve known for awhile.  _

Apparently though, they  _ didn’t _ because Enigma looks shocked.  _ I never looked.  _ She says.  _ I wouldn’t betray you like that.  _ A laugh,  _ you must have been really surprised when I didn’t unmask you...after.  _

_ Not really,  _ Rebekah says  _ It might have been dumb but I still trusted you. I always have.  _

_ Carter.  _ Enigma murmurs against her mind.  _ My name is Carter, and I trust you too. I won’t say I wasn’t mad at you, because you still shouldn’t have attacked the senator. But I missed our friendship too. _

Around them, the storm has faded into gentle rain that disguises the tears on Rebekah’s face.  _ Can we ever get it back?  _

_ All of it and more. _ Carter promises.  _ If that’s what you want.  _

_ You’re what I want.  _

_ You’re what I want too.  _


End file.
